Just 48 hours after the Hallé made such an impression, Manchester’s other orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, took its place on the Proms podium, as if to stake its rival credentials. Direct comparisons would be odious. Suffice to say that under its chief conductor Juanjo Mena, the BBC Philharmonic acquitted itself admirably.
The evening began inauspiciously when Mena took a bow but disappeared again with what he thought was the wrong score, only to be sent back with that of Schubert’s Fourth Symphony once more. He then dropped his baton. After that, things looked up, even while we awaited the inevitable third mishap.
Though designated “Tragic” by Schubert himself, his Fourth is by no means tragic in the sense of Mahler or Tchaikovsky. Much of it is rather genial and one would be glad to encounter it more frequently. Schubert himself was oddly disparaging about the work, an attitude that seemed the more unintelligible the more Mena cajoled his players into delivering it so expressively.
According to Luke Bedford, his new commission, Instability, aims to evoke the world we live in: “a world of upheaval, of things spiralling out of control”. It begins with contrasts of high wind and string harmonics against the subterranean rumble of the organ, and continues with further juxtapositions of pensive material and savage outbursts (timpani and brass). Eventually these elements disintegrate, but there begins what appears to be an attempt to arrest the decline, with an almost Mahlerian melodic fragment on lower strings. This proves to be a cul-de-sac and more chaos ensues. If the intention is to invoke the confusion and alienation of the modern condition, then Bedford has succeeded. The downside is that Instability offers the listener disappointingly little in terms of sensory pleasure.
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It was left to Bruckner’s F Minor Mass to afford uplift, which it does at the great affirmations such as “Et resurrexit” in the Credo, realised thrillingly by the excellent Spanish choir Orfeón Pamplonés. Mena shaped the noble tread of the Kyrie and the gorgeous Benedictus to perfection. The baritone Derek Welton was the outstanding soloist, closely followed by the other relative newcomer, mezzo Jennifer Johnston.
The long-awaited third misfortune befell when a soprano fainted in the final chorus, though an adroit catch by her neighbour obviated disaster.
The BBC Proms (bbc.co.uk/proms) continue until September 12
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